A little bit misleading headline because it's about lifetime economic insecurity, not current conditions. This stat applies to Americans at any point within their working adult lifetime, so it also ignores childhood and elderly poverty. Largest increase of poverty is among whites, particularly in rural and suburban areas. Fascinating to see the rise in poverty and negative sentiment in this group track so closely to their political movement ever right-ward.

The point is that economic insecurity grows with age:

Source and more information:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/exclusive-4-5-us-face-near-poverty-no-work-0

Net-net this is affecting children significantly:

For the first time since 1975, the number of white single-mother households who were living in poverty with children surpassed or equaled black ones in the past decade, spurred by job losses and faster rates of out-of-wedlock births among whites. White single-mother families in poverty stood at nearly 1.5 million in 2011, comparable to the number for blacks. Hispanic single-mother families in poverty trailed at 1.2 million.

The share of children living in high-poverty neighborhoods — those with poverty rates of 30 percent or more — has increased to 1 in 10, putting them at higher risk of teen pregnancy or dropping out of school. Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 17 percent of the child population in such neighborhoods, up from 13 percent in 2000, even though the overall proportion of white children in the U.S. has been declining.

The share of black children in high-poverty neighborhoods dropped sharply, from 43 percent to 37 percent, while the share of Latino children ticked higher, from 38 to 39 percent.

Going back to the 1980s, never have whites been so pessimistic about their futures, according to the General Social Survey, which is conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago. Just 45 percent say their family will have a good chance of improving their economic position based on the way things are in America.

The divide is especially evident among those whites who self-identify as working class: 49 percent say they think their children will do better than them, compared with 67 percent of non-whites who consider themselves working class.

Fewer than half think their family has a good chance of improving their economic position.

That's sad.

23% of American children live in poverty:

http://pandawhale.com/post/3701/23-of-american-children-live-in-poverty

That number is trending up, not down.